Newtown Township municipal offices are located at 100 Municipal Drive, Newtown PA 18940. Phone: 215‑968‑2800.
William Penn's Pennsbury Manor was large area of 5,000 acres which Penn called a propriety. A large part of it became Newtown Township. In the center of the Township, a "townstead" of about 640 acres was surveyed and reserved, this became Newtown Borough. The plan of the Township and "townstead" was surveyed by Thomas Holme (Penn's brother-in-law) about 1684. It was for the most part wilderness. Only a few small settlements were along the Delaware River — New Castle, Upland (later Chester), inhabited by a sprinkling of Dutch and Swedes. Philadelphia was just beginning. The first English sent by William Penn had arrived only two or three years previously. Penn arrived himself in the latter part of 1682 on the ship "Welcome" with a group of his followers.
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Newtown and Wrightstown Townships were the fourth "division" to be made in Bucks County. In 1692 they were a single township. Sometime before 1703 the two were separated, mapped, and individually named. The exact date is unknown.
In the early 19th century, Newtown and Middletown farmers began the custom of naming their farms. A map published in 1860 designated the following names of Newtown farms along with their owners: Sunny Side, Oliver Holcomb; Greenwood, S. G. Martindale; Cherry Hill, L. Buckman; Pleasant Retreat, D. T. Leedom; Mount Airy, C. Leedom; Locust Grove, J. Barnsley; Cottage Retreat, W. S. Torbett; Willow Hill, A. Chambers; Greenbank, J. L. Trobert; Hazel Bush, M. B. Linton; Rural Retreat, C. T. Vanartsdalen; Spring Brook, H. E. Taylor; Prospect, W. M. Harvey; Green Lane, S. T. Hillborn; May Flower, I. Stoop; Oak Grove, S. Sutton; Barn Brook, J. R. Scott; Prospect Hill, E. Martindell; Prospect Hill, S. C. Buckman; Fairview, E. A. White.
Reference: Place Names in Bucks County, George MacReynolds.
Nearby Towns: Langhorne Boro • Langhorne Manor Boro • Middletown Twp • Newtown Boro • Northampton Twp • Upper Makefield Twp • Upper Southampton Twp • Wrightstown Twp •